Who Looks BEST in a Vintage Sari? VOTE!

Period films are about recreating time and history. And costumes play a important role in emphasising the same.

Quite a few of our films are set when India was under the British Raj, and that includes S S Rajamouli's much hyped RRR, which centres on a pair of revolutionaries giving their British masters a tough time in the 1920s.

Who rocked the sari style best in the British Raj? Sukanya Verma asks you to take a poll.

 

Alia Bhatt, RRR

After donning a wardrobe full of white in Gangubai Kathiawadi, Alia exudes old world charm in gold bordered silks to play the small but significant character of Sita in RRR.

 

Tripti Dimri, Bulbbul

Set in pre-renaissance Bengal, Bulbbul's supernatural revenge drama about violence against women showcases the might and magnetism of the lovely Tripti Dimri in rich Benarsis and brocades.

 

Sonakshi Sinha, Kalank

Kalank's pre-Partition period setting is an excuse for actors to dress up like vintage dolls in beautiful clothing.

No wonder Sonakshi's ailing 'badi maalkin' looks anything but sickly in her fashionable avatar.

 

Kangana Ranaut, Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi

Kangana dolls up in resplendent, regal saris to play the warrior queen engaged in a full-fledged rebellion against the British in 1857.

 

Deepika Padukone, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se

Deepika cuts an earthy picture in her simple, handwoven saris as the Indian independence activist Kalpana Dutta joining Surya Sen in his fight against the British, specifically the 1930 Chittagong Armoury Raid.

 

Divya Menon, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy

It's 1943 and Japanese invasion of Burma forms the backdrop of the mystery Detective Byomkesh is investigating while his love interest, played by Divya Menon, shows up every now and then in classic cotton saris.

 

Rasika Dugal, Manto

The Nandita Das directed biopic chronicles novelist Saadat Hasan Manto years before and after Independence.

Rasika Dugal effortlessly slips under the skin of his significant other Safia in high neck blouses paired with printed cotton saris.

 

Nandita Das, 1947: Earth

A stickler for realism behind the camera as well as before it, Das, too, is a picture of authenticity playing the attractive nanny of a little Parsi girl in Deepa Mehta's adaptation of Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice Candy Man.

 

Regina Cassandra, Saba Azad, Rocket Boys

Well-received Web series Rocket Boys details the pursuits and passions of scientists and collaborators Dr Homi Bhabha and Dr Vikram Sarabhai with minor but memorable focus on the loves of their lives.

Regina's fiery, fashionable, portrayal of classical dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai is on point.

 

Regina Cassandra, 1945

Interestingly the spiffy actress appeared in another pre-Independence period drama called 1945, released in Tamil and Telugu, earlier this year.

 

Manisha Koirala, 1942: A Love Story

Did you know Madhuri Dixit was the original choice to play a freedom fighter's daughter who joins the Quit India movement in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's ambitious love story? She even did a photo session for the same.

Eventually though, Manisha bagged the role and looked every bit a classic dream in her lace bordered saris and matching puff blouses.

 

Amisha Patel, Mangal Pandey: The Rising

Amisha has quite a few pre-Independence themed movies to her credit.

Be it as the woman caught between her Indian husband and Pakistani father in Gadar: Ek Prem Katha or the widow who remarries a British officer in Mangal Pandey.

 

Karisma Kapoor, Tanya Maniktala, Zubeidaa, A Suitable Boy

Neither Shyam Benegal's 2001 drama or Mira Nair's 2020 adaptation of Vikram Seth's famous novel are set exactly in the British Raj, but the events in the story happen too soon after to overlook.

Ditto for the vintage style saris Karisma and Tanya drape themselves in

Who looks BEST in a vintage sari? VOTE!